The of the Woods — Episodes — Book Cougars Podcast

Episode 252 Show Notes

– 2025 Listener Top Reads –
The Correspondent – Virginia Evans
Memorial Days – Geraldine Brooks
Wild Dark Shore – Charlotte McConaghy
Heart the Lover – Lily King
Broken Country – Clare Leslie Hall
Stone Yard Devotional – Charlotte Wood
The Road to Tender Hearts – Annie Hartnett
The Briar Club – Kate Quinn
Atmosphere – Taylor Jenkins Reid
James – Percival Everett
Buckeye – Patrick Ryan
Beautyland – Marie-Helene Bertino
Culpability – Bruce Holsinger
The Frozen River – Ariel Lawhon

Some top nonfiction that made the list:
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism – Sarah Wynn-Williams
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space – Adam Higgenbotham
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend – Rebecca Romney
One Day, Everyone Will Always Been Against This – Omar El Akkad

– Announcing the 2026 Readalong Theme –
Books that have been made into film adaptations! Follow the year on social media via #bookstofilm2026. The 2026 first quarter readalong is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Here’s a Wikipedia page that includes a link of Frankenstein adaptations.

The Zoom conversation will take place on Sunday, March 8 at 7pm (ET). Send an email if you would like to join.

Join the Goodreads discussion thread.

– Currently Reading –
Her Life in Ink: Elizabeth Jordan, Journalist, Editor, and Mystery Author – Sharon Harris (CW)
Joyride – Susan Orlean (EF) (audiobook)
The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton – Sophfronia Scott (CW) (audiobook)
Kin – Tayari Jones (EF)

– Just Read –
Beth Is Dead – Katie Bernet (CW)
Practical Magic – Alice Hoffman (EF)(audiobook)
A Backward Glance – Edith Wharton (CW)
Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative – Melissa Febos (EF) (audiobook)
Postmortem – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
Body of Evidence – Patricia Cornwell (CW)
The Author Weekend – Laura Zigman (EF) release date 5/5/2026
A Tangle of Obsidian – Lydia M. Hawke (CW) (audiobook)
Theo of Golden – Allen Levi (EF) (audiobook)
Allen Levi’s elevator pitch about the novel.
Enormous Wings – Laurie Frankel (EF) release date 5/5/2026
The God of the Woods – Liz Moore (EF) (audiobook)

– Biblio Adventures –
Chris had two Couch Biblio Adventures inspired by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: Christmas Above the Clouds and A Dickens of a Holiday!

Emily watched her first book to film adaptation of the year, Practical Magic based on the novel by Alice Hoffman.

Chris attended a meeting of the New Haven History Stewards, where she viewed the exhibit “Shining Light on Truth: Black Lives at Yale & New Haven” at the Schwarzman Center.

Emily went shopping at Slackline Press in Branford, CT where she was able to make a bookmark using an old letter press named Brumhilda.

Chris attended a virtual book launch with Brad Bidelow and his new biography Virginia Faulkner: A Life in Two Acts joined by Debby Applegate (author of The Most Famous Man in America: Henry Ward Beecher and Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age) and William Fellows. The event was recorded you can watch it here.

Emily went to Davoll’s General Store where she attended a conversation between Catherine Newman, author of Wreck, and Emily Franklin, author of Love & Other Monsters.

Chris went to Huntsville, Alabama where she visited The Snail on the Wall bookstore, named after the short story “The Mark on the Wall” by Viriginia Woolf. She picked up copies of Alabama Hope by David Graves and The Book of Blood and Roses by Annie Somerlee. They also went to the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library.

– Upcoming Jaunts –
January 28th from 6-7 pm (MT) Emily has a virtual season pass to Aspen Winter Words, the first in the three-part series is Susan Orlean and her memoir Joyride.

Emily is heading on a trip to California where she hopes to get up to some bookish fun.

Tuesday, January 27, Chris is hoping to attend the Deans Tea: The Color of Contemplation with Sophfronia Scott. Learn more here.

Booktopia 2026 dates have been announced! It has been rebranded and is now called The Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia; follow this link to learn more.

– Upcoming Reads –
The Lady of Pentlands – Elizabeth Jordan (CW)
Tales from the Haunted South: Dark Tourism and Memories of Slavery from the Civil War Era – Tiya Miles (CW) (audiobook)
Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People – Tiya Miles (EF)
Tilt – Emma Pattee (EF)

– 2026 Reading Intentions –
Chris
·       Set Goodreads Reading Challenge to 52 books.
·       Buddy Read of the Kay Scarpetta series with Our Mystery Man, John Valeri. Learn more on Chris’s blog.
·       Do research on Book Cougars quarterly readalongs.
·       Listen to one audiobook each month.
·       Track book reading time on The Storygraph.

Emily
·       Set Goodreads Reading Challenge to 52 books.
·       Post monthly to Ingredient One on Substack.
·       Attend a food writing retreat.
·       Watch one book to film adaptation each month.
·       Maintain book journal and book-to-film adaptation journal.

– Also Mentioned –
Also by Susan Orlean: The Library Book and The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
The Romance of Certain Old Clothes by Henry James
The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex by Melissa Febos
A Web of Obsidian by Lydia M. Hawke
BookTuber Hannah’s Books
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck
Author and actor Jenny Slate
Author and food journalist Kathy Gunst
Slumdog Millionaire based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup
A Discovery of Witches adaptation based on the All Souls Series by Deborah Harkness

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